The question of the day in New York City on Tuesday  what would you do?  rode on a wave of outrage over a harrowing act the day before. A clearly agitated man pushed a 58-year-old stranger onto the track of an oncoming subway train in Midtown Manhattan.

The man, Ki-Suck Han of Elmhurst, Queens, was struck and killed.

... One law enforcement official said that the suspect, originally from Africa, Naeem Davis was a peddler and was on the street working when he was taken into custody. The official said that detectives were trying to determine a motive.

..The freelance photographer who took the pictures, R. Umar Abbasi, defended his actions in an interview. Im being unfairly beaten up in the press, he said at his apartment...

Mr. Abbasi said he was wearing a 20-odd pound backpack of camera gear for an assignment, and was standing near the 47th Street entrance to the platform when he saw the man fall on the tracks. Nobody helped, he said. People started running away.

I saw the lights in the distance, signaling a subways approach, he said, so he started firing off flashes on the camera  49 times in all, he said  as a means of warning the driver.

Im being unfairly beaten up in the press, he said at his apartment...

Of course. Once the victim was hurled on to the tracks, only one person actually tried to take action and prevent a tragedy.

Of course the press is all over the SOB who tried to do something. The press wants people to be sheep and accept all bad things with nothing more than a whimper. To take action? That just makes our masters angry.

Why are we importing half-mad “street peddlars” from savage Africa? Who thought the killer would contribute to our society? From his name, I would guess Nigeria, the worst of the worst. You can’t walk here from Africa. Some State Department Consul gave this bozo a visa. You can’t get on or off the plane without one.

I must disagree with you. It is not pushing people that off subway platforms that kill people. It is the subway platforms. Subway platforms are deadly and should be banned. Or at the bare minimum should be licensed and very tightly regulated.

There's some sort of human smuggling going on from the African countries too. (Obama’s relatives- uncle and aunt are good examples). Hopefully, they didn't give this guy a visa, but who knows in this crazy government.

If this were a private company instead of a government entity, OSHA would be all over them.

Can you imagine what they would do if anyone else had large machines operating in a public area without safety shields and and lockout devices in place? Why are there not fences and gates to prevent this? Look at rides at any amusement park.

17
posted on 12/05/2012 8:24:05 AM PST
by Second Amendment First
("Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not..." - Thomas Jefferson.)

The photo I saw the could have crossed the tracks and there was an open passage way! In his panic all he could think was to get back on the landing! IT is terrible that the pic did not show some citizens helping they guy!
And no one yelled to him to cross the tracks! That said he may have been injured in the fall and could not motivate. Regardless hopefully this criminal will be behind bars forever since Ole Sparky has been decommissioned!

Yes, panic causes all kinds of brain misfirings. He could've crossed the track into an opening but he'd also have to be aware of the third rail, which could have did him in too.

And I could understand someone being wary of pulling him up for fear of being pulled into the tracks. You would need more than one person to accomplish that.

Also, it is very loud in the subway when that train is approaching or if there is another one on the other tracks, so he may not have heard anyone anyways, even if they were yelling.

Yes, Ole Sparky needs to be brought back in NY, it was taken out due to the death penalty law that was on the books being ruled "unconstitutional" by judges a bunch of years back. And of course, the state went so liberal that there is no call to correct that.

20
posted on 12/05/2012 8:38:40 AM PST
by b4its2late
(A Liberal is a person who will give away everything he doesn't own.)

To be fair, helping that man would have taken some titanium balls. The platforms are high and the subway trains don't creep into the stations.

Trying to signal the train operator was probably the wisest thing to try, although the operator may have had trouble seeing the man on the tracks if his eyes were adjusting from the dark tunnel when the camera started flashing at him.

A horrible travesty, but we should not be punishing those who couldn't figure out what else to do.

I don’t advocate busting anyone’s balls - just there are no more hero’s in New York. Seems they have been cowered by the government.

There is no way to guarantee any saving him would have been successful anyway.

Here is CA, we used to have a “good Samaritan” law that protected you from legal liability if you try to stop and help someone so now if you stop at a car wreck and try to help the victim could sue you. It is silly. I am sure NYC has the same.

28
posted on 12/05/2012 9:26:43 AM PST
by edcoil
(It is not over until I win.)

Uh...several months ago an unemployed man on his way to a job interview rescued a child in a stroller who was blown on to the subway tracks by the backdraft of the departing train. New Yorkers rallied to his prospective boss asking that the he hire the hero. He did hire him and everybody had a happy ending.

“I would think with your moniker you would have remembered this story.”

I have been living in upstate NY for quite a while. The moniker is from a professor attempting to describe the cause of the interpersonal problems between me and my colleagues/professors as a graduate student in a southern university. The culture shock on both sides was considerable.

36
posted on 12/05/2012 11:40:04 AM PST
by Brooklyn Attitude
(Obama being re-elected is the political equivalent of OJ being found not guilty.)

“Trying to signal the train operator was probably the wisest thing to try”

Isn’t it amazing how well composed his accidental shots are when he was simply trying to warn the operator with his flash?

If I were warning someone with a flashing light I’d be sure to point it right at them. Makes sense, right? And since the flash is pointing where the camera is focused...I’d expect the operator of the train to be the center of the shot.

Yet they’re so well composed.

Crazy luck, that.

As for punishment...what punishment could there be?

But don’t stand by and watch a man die so that you can get a great shot...and then expect people to like you.

"So that, when coming out of a dark tunnel, you can dilate their pupils and they won't see what you're trying to warn them about?

As I think about what was probably going on during the scene, especially how fast those trains pull in, I'm surprised anyone thought to do anything."

My friend...read what you just wrote, especially the part in bold.

Occam's Razor...the photog thought to do what he was trained to do...take pictures.

I don't want to hear some soccer excuse about how he not only had time to think "I'll warn the train driver with my flash! Yeah!" but also "Better not blind him with it while I'm doing it!" as the train bears down on the poor fellow.

Combine that with the perfectly framed pictures and it's obvious what happened.

Next thing you know all the people who had their phones out will claim they were trying to text the train operator to Stop! but they couldn't find the exclamation mark on their phone.

They should pass a law making it illegal to push people off of subway platforms.

We’ll need to set up a commission to study subway incidents, first.

Then negotiate pay and benefits packages for the commissioners.
Since this happened in New York the appropriate union must be involved. Antonio (knuckles) Graziano has already voiced an interest in unionizing commission employees

Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.